We have been attentive to making sure we provide broad access to not only women, but women of color. What has WGU been doing to try to close some of these gaps? WGU has the Reboot partnership happening. The percentage of women of color in these fields is low. From the very moment that a woman is considering going into computer science, cybersecurity, IT or cloud computing, we believe they need extra supports in making that decision, and then understanding how their prior experience fits in with admission criteria and ultimately, with hiring criteria. As we are working on that problem, in higher education, there are things that we can do, but they may require far higher and more personalized touch than we’re used to. They are the minority in those situations. That’s a deep problem that has cultural roots. We are still seeing, even in K-through, lower rates of participation of young women and girls in engineering-focused programs and pathways, and math-focused programs and pathways. The whole generation is tech savvy, but I don’t think they necessarily interpret that as a career path. So what are the barriers preventing them from pursuing tech or STEM fields? This generation of women and girls are extremely tech-savvy. It’s a start.īut to learn more about what can be done to elevate women, and women of color, in tech fields, University Business sat down for an in-depth conversation with Baker-Stein: One of its latest endeavors is a partnership with Reboot Representation, which awarded WGU $1 million to raise the number of Black, Latina and Native American women getting IT degrees in the next three years. Its reach, like a few of its online contemporaries, is broad enough, powerful enough and collaborative enough to upend the narrative and swing those closed doors wide open. Western Governors has a steep stake in ensuring that happens, not only because its student body is comprised of two-thirds women, but also because it is one of the world’s education leaders in flexible, digital learning for students. More from UB: By the numbers: How different is this fully online university from a traditional one? And they need as much financial and wraparound aid and support services that allow, especially adult women.” “Girls and women need context, training and development so they truly understand business and industry and the job role they’re interested in. “There are some areas where we can really bear down in higher education,” Baker-Stein says. WGU, for one, is putting an increased emphasis on supporting women who pursue STEM from the moment they sign on with abundant resources. We lack an infrastructure of encouragement for girls to move into STEM pathways from those earliest grades.”īut if that push continues to happen in K-12, where there has been a more cognizant embrace from school leaders, state and local agencies and philanthropy, higher education can level those barriers. “There are some systemic challenges around women and girls as early as elementary school moving into pathways that are math- and science-based, just because they are not encouraged to. “In both credentialing programs as well as in the workforce, they have been prevented from rising,” she says. Marni Baker-Stein, Chief Academic Officer and Provost at the highly creative, highly flexible Western Governors University, says until now that has been difficult to achieve. What the field needs is an upheaval, or as one higher education academic leader notes, a “virtuous cycle” where consistent financial support and messaging support adult women and young girls of all races to jump in and embrace tech. It also has been oft-criticized for not being more open to diverse pools of thought, which can deeply impact innovation. tech lost its way? In some fields, it has completely struggled to keep pace with demand, wherein cybersecurity job openings alone have risen above 500,000. Men are still the dominant force, and often an intimidating one that continues to distance females from even considering a future in those realms, let alone pursuing them with vigor. Women of color have only a 4% stake in positions in tech fields.
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